At the Aug 23, 2016 County Council Meeting, former Commissioner Ed Barnes, citing being called upon to step down early after Jeanne Stewart was elected so she could take over, called upon controversial councilor David Madore to step down since he was defeated in the primary.

I understand his sentiment, but Ed forgets that there is not yet a candidate elected as Ms. Stewart was.

Ed was also mistaken in his assertion that then fellow Commissioners Madore and Mielke asked the County Prosecutor to call upon Ed to step down early. Since Ed was appointed to fulfill the rest of Steve Stuart’s term, after Stuart resigned to take a better job, State Law says he had to step down once a permanent Commissioner was elected in the General Election, as was explained.

Anybody that has ever been around golf for very long knows of “taking a Mulligan.” For those unfamiliar with the term, it means “when a player gets a second chance to perform a certain move or action; usually due to lack of skill or bitter luck. A ‘Do-Over’.”

Witnessing the ongoing friction and antics of the newly seated County Council as they adjust to a five-member council, we see one of the most dysfunctional bodies of government I have ever seen in my life.

It’s easy to point fingers of blame at David Madore and let’s face it; he deserves his share of blame for his own antics, accusing others of criminal acts, corruption and plotting against citizens.

Yes, we all have witnessed the dysfunction ongoing with the five member County Council and finger pointing is going in all directions. But it seems the problem extends beyond just the friction between the five councilors.

It’s bad enough that the councilors can’t seem to agree on much, but week after week we see the same citizens coming forward repeating their vitriol towards one group or another.

It seems to be a saying widely disseminated today, being past the point of no return. We hear it in relation to climate change, economical woe and much more.

But where it may be more truthful than anywhere else is in our political discourse, both nationally and locally.

It seems that although our political discourse has been brutal at times since our country was founded, it took on a new level of vitriol beginning with the announcement of George W. Bush winning the 2000 presidential election, with the false cries of “he stole the election” heard ever since.

Clark County saw its first full five member council mandated by the home rule charter to replace the three member county commission last evening and as I suspected, it has nothing to do with “Good Governance” or making anything in the county better.

No, it is as I predicted, all about slapping down councilors Madore and Mielke, both of whom are up for reelection later this year.

Shortly before Christmas, they rushed through eight resolutions that even the Lazy C all but admitted were meaningless, carrying no actual weight and as one commenter said, “a complete waste of time” to pass.

We are poised to embark on the next chapter of Clark County as the dust from the last election has settled and we move to a 5 person County Council and away from the long held 3 person County Commission.

As we know, the County Commission style of governance has be replaced after decades of functioning for the left because voters moved it right in 2012, shortly after seeing one Commissioner, Steve Stuart, throw a hissy fit and stomp off rather than accept he no longer called all of the shots.

From day one of the new Commission in 2012, the Lazy C, laughingly referred to as a “newspaper” locally, set their sights on ripping control away from the right and replacing power to the left.

I can only imagine the disappointment felt by Lazy C editor, ol Lefty Lou Brancaccio as a major terrorist attack in Paris France last week pushed his weekly rant against County Councilor David Madore back one week.

Sorry Lou, but there really are things more important than your personal vendetta.

Be that as it may, ol Lefty postponed his weekly rant, the 90th Press Talk editorial denigrating Madore to today to pile on a matter from nearly a month ago that had Lou and the rest down at the Lazy C all charged up on the eve of the Nov. 3 election, an email sent by Madore to County Manager Mark McCauley that left Mark feeling insecure in his position as one of the ‘reporters’ writing was seen throughout the day feeding rumors to a facebook group set up after hopes of a recall fell flat.

No doubt pleased to once again get out from behind the wheel of dump trucks, former Clark County Commissioner Marc Boldt succeeded in his bid to climb back on top on the now Clark County Council created in the 2014 voter approved Home Rule Charter that now sees a 5 member Council over the 3 member Commission that existed before.

For whatever reason, charter opponents chose to ignore the motives and it passed by a 7 point margin, creating the 5 member Council Marc Boldt has been elected to chair, a new position created in the charter.

Well, we made it through to Wednesday and it’s all over for some candidates while some others remain to be sorted out as ballots continue trickling in and being counted.

In all, I have no complaints on this election, save I was hoping to see Maria Salazar shake things up a bit in Ridgefield and breakup that good old boy club atmosphere out there. Sadly her race went to the incumbent, but Maria ran a good race, facing a whisper campaign of unsavory gossip about her.

The most watched race, Clark County Council Chair remains undecided whether it will go to Battle Ground Council Member Mike Dalesandro of former Clark Commissioner Marc Boldt.

“We should boldly speak the truth without apology, even when it is negative.” – David Madore, October 30, 2011

Politics is said to be a blood sport and all too often, campaigns perpetrate untruths about opponents. Sometimes knowingly and sometimes due to lack of actually looking before making claims about an opponent, not “looking before they leap.”

I think we all remember then candidate David Madore sending out a flyer with claims against then Commissioner Marc Boldt that were easily exposed as not factual and his subsequent flyer apologizing to Boldt, showing that Madore relied on hearsay and did not adequately vet the information he was given.

It appears nothing was learned from then as now we see the same action coming from Madore, Christian Berrigan and a few others involved in the Write-in Liz Pike PAC.

While primarily pointing fingers at the current “write-in” effort in the county council chair race, Jayne does mention the recent matter between the Clark County Democrat Party and the Young Democrats of Clark County when they endorsed separate candidates, the party getting behind Democrat Mike Dalesandro and the Young Democrats endorsing Independent Marc Boldt who has previously ran and won elections as a Republican.

I’m particularly struck by that as I read over on the C3G2 facebook page from Roy Valo, “Yeah, in the Dems we came up with a logical compromise that both the CCDCC and the YDs were satisfied with because we sat down and discussed the issue like adults.”

After months of demeaning the GOP and insisting County Commissioner Marc Boldt is the real Republican that all Republicans should be like, they have finally admitted what we all knew all along, Marc Boldt is a Democrat pretending to be a Republican to win votes.

Marc Boldt was swept into office by large Republican majorities and was enticed to sell out those voters who supported him, siding with Liberal Democrat Steve Stuart and Columbia River Crossing proponents.

In spite of what fringe leftist try to claim, it is well known in Clark County that the newspaper of record, the Columbian has earned the reputation of also being known as the unofficial daily newsletter of the Democrat Party. Nowhere is this seen any better than in their Political Endorsements.

Every election, while a few token Republicans earn their endorsement, by and large the bulk go to Democrats, any Democrat in some cases even though the paper admits the Republican is the better candidate. Their reasoning given with some endorsements is not only inconsistent, but borders on outright hypocrisy.

Case in point is their 2012 endorsement in the general election for County Commissioner. Two districts are up for election and in both the primary and general election, they chose an all Democrat field. When their chosen Democrat did not win in our top-two primary, they still chose the Democrat, even though one claims to be a Republican still.

The local newspaper of record, the Columbian, also known as the unofficial daily newsletter for the CRC & Democrat Party, continues to claim they are not biased in favor of liberals, but everyday reveals more and more of the leftward leaning.

Along with their bias comes their favored candidates and incumbents, nearly always a Democrat or supporter of the CRC and dragging Portland’s financially failing light rail into Clark County and sticking local citizens with massive taxes and tolls to pay for what they have not even been allowed to vote again to say whether they want it or not, being voted down 3 times in the past.

County Commissioner Marc Boldt was one who the paper used to demand resign, as they did in their past editorial, “Three Nuts and a Boldt.” But Boldt has become the Darling of the paper as he shifted left politically and began supporting the CRC.

We saw it the paper waited 4 months to report on Boldt’s being sanctioned by the CCGOP and only after successful businessman, David Madore, long hated by the paper, announced he would run against Boldt.

It was just this past May when Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler raised a few eyebrows around her district over a comment she made and reported in the May 4, 2012 Columbian, the unofficial daily newsletter of the CRC and Democrat Party, that she intended to endorse both incumbent County Commissioners up for reelection, Republican Tom Mielke and alleged Republican Marc Boldt.

Considering that Commissioner Boldt has been sanctioned in November 2011 by the Clark County Republican Party for abandoning the party platform, turning his back on constituents who elected him and began siding with Democrat Steve Stuart, even to the point of saying “nothing would get done if he didn’t compromise with Stuart,” Herrera Beutler began catching flak, just as she predicted she would.

One such example was an open letter written to her by Carolyn Schultz-Rathbun with a copy posted on her blog, Cry Beloved Country.

I thank all who turned in their ballots in the Tuesday primary elections, but remain very disappointed in so many not bothering to participate. Of the 234,411 ballots mailed out, only 71,951 have been received back at the time of this writing. That amounts to 30.69%, far less than the 38% first predicted, which itself is poor.

While some still may trickle in from further out in the county, I expect few differences in what races have already determined which two candidates move-on to the November 6 General.

A few surprises and disappointments, but overall the votes seem to have gone fairly close as I expected, even though I did not issue any predictions.

For U.S. Senate, I was disappointed to see Art Coday finish so far behind as I expected him to do better. I did not expect him to win, especially in Clark County, but believed he would show better. I can live with Baumgartner taking on Cantwell and also know he has his work cut out for him.

Incumbent Clark County Commissioner Marc Boldt, who ran as a conservative and sold out his conservative base during his two terms on the commission, is eager to keep his seat and be reelected. No real surprise, the position not only pays pretty well for a former truck driver, it carries power and a degree of prestige, as public office does.

But that does not justify the lengths Marc Boldt is taking to retain his seat.

Politicians of all walks are noted for trying to present their best view for us and are expected to embellish somewhat. But Marc Boldt has elevated the art of dishonest deception presented to voters to a new level for the office he seeks to retain, with the willing assistance of the unofficial daily newsletter for the CRC & Democrat Party, the Columbian.

While they Columbian’s Stephanie Rice strains gnats to paint Boldt’s strongest opponent, successful businessman David Madore as less than sincere, she makes no effort whatsoever to vet Marc Boldt’s claims he makes or vet those who speak on his behalf.

If there is anything you can make bank on in Clark County, it is the Columbian, the newspaper of record also known locally as the “unofficial daily newsletter for the Democrat Party” not missing a chance to slam Republicans like County Commissioner Tom Mielke while ignoring the missteps of RINO politicians like fellow County Commissioner, Marc Boldt.

We saw it clear as day when 4 months after being sanctioned by the Clark County GOP, they ran a series of negative articles against the CCGOP and defending marc Boldt over his numerous votes contrary to the conservative principles he campaign on to win the seat. Although they have admitted monitoring this blog and the Clark County Politics blog, who wrote of the sanctions when they happened, the Columbian seemed to ignore it until right after successful Vancouver businessman David Madore, another frequent target of their negative coverage, announced he would challenge Boldt for the seat.

Acting more like a spurned lover with a personal ax to grind than an objective reporter, the Columbian’s Stephanie Rice seems to take delight with any chance she can find to slam Commissioner Mielke, either in the pages of the Columbian or on their blog, All Politics is Local.